GMO Offers $1 Million Reward to Catch Hackers After Refusing a $50 Million Extortion Demand

Japan's GMO Internet Group is offering up to $1 million in total for information that helps catch the attackers who breached its Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service. The service hosts Windows desktops used for FX trading. GMO says customer information was taken, and a broker has linked unauthorized trades on some customers' accounts to logins leaked from the service. GMO received a demand for about $50 million on October 21 and refused to pay. The attackers have also threatened customers' trading accounts and data.

On October 27, the attackers posted material on their website that they say is information about GMO and its customers. The site's domain and its mirror sites were shut down at about 4 a.m. Japan time on October 28, and GMO plans to act against any new site. The reward program, called GMO Cybercrime Bounty, opened the same day and runs until an arrest, an international wanted notice, or October 27, 2027, whichever comes first. Tips can be sent anonymously by email in Japanese, English, or Chinese.

Payment is made only if a tip leads to an arrest, including by police outside Japan, or to an international wanted notice such as an Interpol Red Notice. GMO decides how much each tip helped, and tipsters must prove their identity before being paid. Guesses and reposts of public information do not qualify. GMO tells tipsters not to break into systems, negotiate with or pay the attackers, or send leaked data, credentials, or malware. GMO has given police all its evidence, including communication records.